The present invention relates in general to packaging apparata, and in particular to an interlocking slotted partition apparatus for use in describing containment and cushioning regions within a shipping container--where the partitions are reused in the same or similar containers.
A typical prior art partition packing arrangement comprises, in part, a thin first panel having a series of one or more single slots extending downward, in parallel manner, from an edge of the panel to a region halfway along the length of the panel. A number of second panels, equal to the number of slots on the first panel, are slid onto the first panel, each second panel having a simple slot which cooperates with the slot in the first panel. In this way, the first and second panels are caused to intersect, and to have flush upper and lower edges, if the panels are of equal length in the dimension parallel to the line of intersection--provided the slot lengths so permit. By varying the number of first and second panels, and the number of slots in each panel, various arrays of partition packing apparata can be formed, which when placed in a suitably-sized box, yield three dimensional partition packing arrangements.
It is, on occasion, necessary to utilize such a packing arrangement for more than a single shipment. For example, a shipment of half-manufactured items may be sent to a finisher, who then sends the finished items to a packager and/or distributor. A finisher who must unpack the half-manufactured items, and repack them after finishing, would typically desire utilizing the same slotted packing partition. It is at this stage of such a shipping process that the drawbacks of the prior art partition packing arrangements are most discernible. Before the partitions can be reused, they often must be removed from the box to either facilitate unpacking, or to prevent damage to the partitions themselves. In such prior art devices, the panels have typically been maintained together along the simple telescopically nested slots, merely by friction, the presence of the packed items and the constraints of the closed shipping container itself. Upon removal from the box, the panels tend to fall apart from one another immediately, and otherwise tend to become easily separated. Not only is valuable time wasted in rearranging and reassembling the panels for subsequent reuse, but stray panels may also become easily lost or damaged.
Another disadvantage of the use of intersecting panels with nested slots and passive attachment means, is that the panels exhibit little natural tendency to intersect at prompted right angles, which is a common, if not most prevalent, desired region configuration.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a partition packing apparatus, capable of repeated use, and comprised of vertically extending intersecting primary and secondary panels which may be readily fixedly and disengageably assembled.
It is a further object of the subject invention to provide a partition packing apparatus for repeated use comprised of vertically intersecting panels which are actively restrainably affixed relative to one another to prevent loss or separation of individual panels, while describing distinct, rigid, containment and cushioning regions within a container.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a partition packing apparatus for repeated use, which is easily installed during packing and removed during unpacking, yet which costs very little more to manufacture and assemble than conventional partition apparata.
An additional object of the present invention is the provision of a partition packing apparatus for repeated use, comprising vertically extending intersecting panels to effectively occupy the three dimensional cavity of a container through which intersecting primary and secondary panels are more effectively maintained at right angles to one another within the container--while affording the feature of modularity among consistently alignable locking structures on variably-sized panel elements.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent in light of the present specification, drawings and claims.